New York, NY (May 28, 2008)- The Webby Awards will honor David Byrne and Lorne Michaels for lifetime achievement at Webby ceremonies this June in New York City, organizers announced today.

At The 12th Annual Webby Awards on June 10th, Byrne will be presented with a Webby Lifetime Achievement Award for a visionary career pushing the boundaries of music, art, and technology, for more than three decades. Since co-founding the Talking Heads in the 1970’s, Byrne has consistently been at the forefront of multimedia experimentation, from his celebrated PowerPoint art to his popular Internet radio station and blog to his latest endeavor, “Playing the Building” – converting a landmark New York City building into a giant, interactive musical instrument.

Michaels will be honored at The Webby Film and Video Awards on June 9th in recognition of his groundbreaking work with SNL Digital Shorts, which jumpstarted the online video revolution in 2005 with “Lazy Sunday,” one of the first videos to become a viral hit on both YouTube and NBC.com. Having reinvented television comedy with Saturday Night Live starting in 1975,
Michaels’ influence can be seen in the popular formats of today’s online comedy, from fake newscasts to political parodies.

“David and Lorne both turned popular culture on its head in the late 1970s and each of them have continued to push the envelope for more than three decades,” said David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards. “It’s an honor to salute these two visionaries for careers that consistently challenge, surprise, and inspire audiences around the world.”

Byrne and Michaels will be saluted alongside Webby Award winners in a wide range of categories from Blog to Fashion to Weird, as well as four other Special Achievement honorees – Stephen Colbert (Person of the Year), Michel Gondry (Film and Video Person of the Year) will.i.am (Artist of the Year) and Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, a.k.a “Tim and Eric” (Best Actor).

Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 550-person judging academy whose members include Vinton Cerf, Arianna Huffington, Matt Groening, and Harvey Weinstein.

Byrne and Michaels will be honored at two New York City ceremonies: The 12th Annual Webby Awards on June 10th featuring Seth Meyers of Saturday Night Live as host; and The Webby Film and Video Awards on June 9th with Judah Friedlander of 30 Rock as emcee. In keeping with Webby tradition, winners will be limited to five-word acceptance speeches. Past speeches include Al Gore (“Please don’t recount this vote”), Beastie Boys (“Can anyone fix my computer?”), and Prince (“Everything you think is true”).

About The Webby Awards:

Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile web sites. Established in 1996, the 12th Annual Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide. The Webby Awards is presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include: Adobe; The Creative Group; Nokia; .ORG; Level 3; Getty Images; The Barbarian Group; Digital Kitchen; Adweek; Variety; Wired; IDG; Pequot Ventures; Brightcove; PricewaterhouseCoopers; 2advanced.Net; KobeMail and Museum of the Moving Image.